Saturday, September 26, 2009

A second dust storm and how it started. These pics, just in, taken at Ayers Rock Central Australia this morning. Not as bad as Wednesday's storm but it has already swept through Sydney and is heading north to Queensland.

Wednesday, September 23, 2009

The cassone (or cassoni), an Italian Marriage Chest, or a Glory Box, as I've always known it. They were highly decorated with fine metals, rich velvets and an artist, or artists, would be commissioned to paint arabesques, love stories, Roman poetry, Tuscan verse and tell fascinating tales of ancient Greece, Rome and Palestine. It would have contained the bride's dowry and was carried from her Father's house to that of her groom. Later they were used to store fine linens, clothes and textiles. A marriage in 15th century Florence was more about dynastic alliance between powerful families, rather than for love or religion.

The above chest (Nerli Chest) and spalliera (a wall panel that hangs on the wall above) was one of a pair made to commemorate the marriage of Lorenzo di Matteo de Morelli and Vagia di Tania de Francesco de Nerli and was painted in 1472 by Jacopo del Sellaio and Biagio d'antonio. It is on display at the Courtauld Gallery, London.

The other Nerli Chest

Walnut, domed lid

The above 16th century cassoni (found on an auction site) is of solid, carved walnut with dome top and intarsia-inlaid, string banding. The centre panel is inlaid with family crest (the panel usually has the crest of both families). It was for sale with the original iron key! Intarsia is a form of wood inlaying similar to marquetry.

Scenes from Boccaccio's Decameron

Cassone were generally displayed in a man's camera (chamber) one of the most important rooms in a house.

My Mother's Glory Box,

dating back to The Great Depression era of the 1930s (I should

have added a touch of folk-art to the front panels).

The top lifts up to reveal a cavity about 6 inches deep and behind the doors are about four drawers. Many of the chests, as this one, were made of cedar, a fragrant timber which has a natural repellent to moths. It still has that unique, fresh perfume I remember as a girl.

It is now housed in my daughter Nicole's home. Hopefully, there will be a great-grand-daughter to pass it on to.

Saturday, September 19, 2009

I've been doing a bit of searching around for our forthcoming trip and found a great site with stories of some of the oldest buildings in New York. The above building is the narrowest in New York city at only 9ft 6inches wide. Built in 1873 on what was a former carriage entrance way between two buildings. Read below a snippet of Bonnie Rosenstock's descriptive history of the house and the many luminaries who once lived there or visited.

'According to the plaque on the front of the building, Edna St. Vincent Millay lived there from 1923-1924 and wrote "The Ballad of the Harp-Weaver", for which she won the Pulitzer Prize. No so, says Elizabeth Barnett, literary executor of the Millay Society. Via e-mail, Barnett stated that Millay did not write this poem there. "Millay worked on that poem while living in Europe and finished it before returning to the USA. Millay and her husband lived at Steepletop, Austerlitz, NY, beginning in 1925. She lived there until her death in 1950, her husband until his death in 1949." However, writer Ann McGovern (who lived at the building sometime in the late 1980s) asserted in a newspaper interview that Millay wrote part of "The King's Henchmen" there.'

Thursday, September 17, 2009

I don't know about you but I forget to drink water! It's not until the afternoon comes, along with what I call, 'brain fog', that I realise that I need my first big glass of H20 and it's not long before my head is clear again. After that I might drink another two glasses. But that's not enough! We all should drink 6-8 glasses a day to remain hydrated and have our system function as it should.

Some of you may have seen the following study result before but I think it's worth printing again. I'm going to put that lovely waterfall pic on my fridge, along with the MIND, EXERCISE, NUTRITION, DO IT!! motivational sign, in the hope that it will work in the reverse of the cake post I put up recently!

1. 75% of Americans are chronically dehydrated (likely applies to half the world population).

2. In 37% of Americans, the thirst mechanism is so weak that it is mistaken for hunger.

3. Even MILD dehydration will slow down one's metabolism as much as 3%.

4. One glass of water will shut down midnight hunger pangs for almost 100% of the dieters studied in a University of Washington study.

5. Lack of water, the #1 trigger of daytime fatigue.

6. Preliminary research indicates that 8-10 glasses of water a day could significantly ease back and joint pain for up to 80% of sufferers.

7. A mere 2% drop in body water can trigger fuzzy short-term memory, trouble with basic math and difficulty focusing on the computer screen or on a printed page.

8. Drinking 5 glasses of water daily decreases the risk of colon cancer by 45%, plus it can slash the risk of breast cancer by 79% and one is 50% less likely to develop bladder cancer.

Tuesday, September 15, 2009

The Algerian flower-seller beaten,petals strewn on the French street -always there is beauty to mark the blood in Paris.

She arrives at Gare du Nord on her waysomewhere else.Before her next train, she sitsamong the people in the Luxembourg gardensin the shadow of the trees and Flaubert's bust,eating a peach on a bench, slowly makingthe afternoon hers.

She washes her hands and mouth, the hollowof her throat and, on impulse, poursthe rest of the water over her feet.A man comes running toward herto make all the stories come trueand, looming, bends down.

With cool hands, he takesthe bottom of her foot and kissesher ankle, the whole city pausingfor an instant. Then he runs away againbetween the people, the gates, the trees.

Thursday, September 10, 2009

Penelope Boothby 1785-1791The above monument, by Thomas Banks was shown at the Royal Academy in 1793 before being installed in St. Oswald's Parish Church, Ashbourne, Derbyshire (the link to Ashbourne is extremely interesting with snippets from the parish records dating back to 1539).

The white Carrara marble effigy commemorates the short life of Penelope Susanah Boothby, daughter of Sir Brooke Boothby, who died on 20th March 1791, a month short of her sixth birthday. The inscription reads, 'She was in form and intellect most exquisite. The unfortunate parents ventured their all on this frail bark and the wreck was total.' She is said to have been able to speak a little of the four languages inscribed on her tomb.

She used to play in the studio of Sir Joshua Reynolds and at age 4, was the subject of his painting "The Little Girl in the Mob-cap". Henry Fuseli, an acquaintance of Sir Joshua, also painted "The Apotheosis of Penelope Boothby" in 1792.

Her distraught parents parted after her funeral, each blaming the other for her death. Sir Brooke Boothby never got over his only child's death and wrote several Sonnets about his loss; an excerpt from Sonnet X111 follows:

Sunday, September 6, 2009

I prepared this post in early July (when I had a case of 'blog block') and have been reluctant to put it up as it is rather silly when I look at it now but it took a while to put together, so why not? Take it as what it is, just a bit of fun.

My mother-in-law, Kitty, passed away last September, two weeks short of her 93rd Birthday and I'm still coping with boxes of "stuff", including a large collection of furs. MIL loved to dress up, donning hats, scarves, furs and jewellery and in her eighties was given the name, "Queen Mother", which she loved, as she was an English lady.

My dilemma now is, what to do with the furs?

There are about six stoles, two jackets,a neck warmer and also my Mother's long rabbit coat.A theatre company might appreciate them.

MIL, DMJ and Me at a family wedding in 1989Cousin Sally sitting behind in her mink coat

My Mother, Myrtle Mary, in the rabbit coat, January 1941two weeks short of 32 and expecting my Brother

For those of you who love fabrics, the lining of the rabbit coat is in beautiful condition for over 70 years old; only a few little rust marks on the shoulders from wire coat hangers. I'm hanging on to the coat only because it was my Mother's.